Student Laptop Programme 2025-26
As part of our strategic plan, Somersfield Academy has made a commitment to provide our students with a 21st century learning experience and to use technology to enhance student learning, creativity and personal productivity.
The school relies heavily on the use of Managebac, the online learning platform for IB Schools, student email and other online resources. Students in P5-M5 and the DP Programme are required to bring laptops to school to assist with their learning tasks. Options that are available for students to use laptops at school include:
Purchasing a school-recommended laptop (Dell Latitude 5350) duty free as opposed to the normal 25% duty rate
Bringing your own laptop (BYOL)
Independent of the options chosen above, it is advised that students carry devices turned off and in a padded case. You may also wish to consider purchasing a wireless or USB mouse.
Laptops Purchased Through the School
The school has selected Bermuda Microsystems Group Ltd. (Dell) to provide a laptop solution for purchase. The laptop model is the Dell 13 Pro plus, details of which are provided below.
Deadline for ordering is June 24, 2025. However, a few extra units are normally brought in by the local vendor for those that miss the deadline. Quantity is limited and maybe subject to duty.
Warranty and Complete Care Coverage for Dell Laptop Solution – Dell 13 Pro Plus
It is our intention to provide you with the best possible ‘package’ in terms of cost, functionality and support. We maintain an extremely positive service relationship with Bermuda Microsystems Group (BMG). This coupled with the existence of a local Dell parts depot (meaning that spare parts are being stored on the island) allows for prompt repair turnaround times. In addition, the laptop comes with a 3 year Warranty with Dell Complete Care Package (1 incident per year). Please note that there is a $50.00 diagnostics charge that must be paid directly to BMG by the laptop owner for all repairs at the time of drop-off.
The Dell Complete Care package has proven to be invaluable, as it covers the cost of replacement parts related to unintentional damage. Please note that the Complete Care package does not include theft, loss, or damage by fire at home or at school. We suggest that families add the laptop to their household insurance to cover such eventualities.
All Dell Windows laptops come with a free pre-loaded antivirus application called Windows Defender from Microsoft. Updates to virus definitions will be installed automatically as the student logs into the laptop.
Laptop Payment & Collection Plan:
The laptop maybe purchased using a single payment plan or a three-payment plan. With the three-payment plan, the price of the laptop will be divided into three equal payments, each of which will be billed to your child’s account with due dates of the June 17, July 17, and August 17. No laptops can be issued until full payment is received. Collection of laptops will be approximately mid to late August 2025. You will be emailed when ready for collection.
Please note that any hardware problems with the purchased laptops will be carried out by the respective local laptop vendor, Bermuda Microsystems.
Somersfield Academy’s IT support will be limited to Level One support which involves interacting with the students, understanding their laptop issues and then advising them of a course of action.
Software:
The school has negotiated a Microsoft School licensing agreement that will allow students to utilise both Microsoft Office 365 and Google G-Suite software. The office 365 agreement allows the student to:
Install Microsoft Office 356 software on up to 5 total compatible PCs, Macs and mobile devices
Access cloud-based versions of Microsoft Office 365 applications online
Use OneDrive for online storage of up to 25GB
Access to email with a mailbox size of 10GB
Easily store class work and project documents– and recall them on any device
It is important to note that the agreement with Microsoft has been arranged with the understanding that the school is the owner of the software. Students will not have access to the physical software media themselves. The Microsoft Office 2016 application will be downloaded by the student from the Office 365 site using the student’s Office 365 login account. Should the student leave the school, the Office 365 student account along with the Microsoft Office 365 application will be deactivated.
The IT Department will install O365 and any other school related applications on the laptops to ensure all needed applications are installed correctly and work as designed. This will be performed after the final payment is made and before collection.
Bring Your Own Laptop (BYOL):
Only students in DP1 – DP2 are allowed to purchase and use any laptop they want to use.
Any DP student who brings in their own device must be able to produce documents in a format that the school can access. Students must be able to supply work which can be opened on a school computer, therefore documents are to be submitted in Microsoft Office 2016 to O365 formats. Remember, as a student at Somersfield Academy, you are eligible to install MS Office 355 on up to five personal devices by using your Office 365 login account.
If specialised software is used, work must be submitted, in a format that your teacher has approved in advance.
Somersfield Academy’s IT support will be limited to Level One support which involves interacting with the students, understanding their laptop issues and then advising them of a course of action.
BYOL devices must meet the following minimum requirements:
Screen size of at least 13"
Processor should be a minimum of Intel i5 or higher.
Minimum of 8 GB RAM (Memory)
USB port or adapter to access USB
Storage (Hard disk drive) At least 256 GB, 512 GB is recommended. Recommend SSD (Solid State Drive)
Wi-Fi, 802.11 AC
A modern web browser, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox
Up to date anti-virus software.
School Liability Statement:
Students bring their devices to use at Somersfield Academy at their own risk. Pupils are expected to act responsibly with regards to their own device, keeping it up to date and as secure as possible. It is their duty to be responsible for the upkeep and protection of their devices.
Somersfield Academy is in no way responsible for:
Personal devices that are broken while at school or during school-sponsored activities
Personal devices that are lost or stolen at school or during school-sponsored activities
Maintenance or upkeep of any device (keeping it charged, installing updates or upgrades, fixing any software or hardware issues).
Somersfield Academy will make available an internet connection and students are encouraged to back up their student files to the cloud (Office 365 One drive, Google Drive, Dropbox) or to a backup device such as a portable USB drive or flash drive. Students will be able to download and install Microsoft Office 365 on to their own device while attending the school, once they leave Somersfield Academy the account will be disabled.
To protect the students from harmful internet content, the school’s Fortinet content filtering application will be applied.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Bussie Ible at bible@somersfield.bm should you have any questions.
Dell Latitude 5350 Laptop — $1,330.00
✅ Warranty
Warranty: 3 years, Complete Care coverage
🔧 Processor & Operating System
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 135U vPro
12 MB cache, 12 cores, 14 threads
Turbo speed up to 4.4 GHz
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro
Languages: English, Brazilian Portuguese (PT-BR), French, Spanish
💻 Display & Camera
Screen: 13.3" Full HD (1920x1080), IPS touchscreen
60Hz refresh rate, 300 nits brightness
Anti-reflective + anti-smudge coating
72% NTSC colour gamut, Gorilla Glass DXC
Pen support
Cameras:
Full HD front camera with IR (for facial recognition)
Temporal noise reduction for clearer video
Built-in camera shutter
Built-in microphone
💾 Memory & Storage
RAM: 16 GB LPDDR5x, 6400 MT/s
Note: Runs at 4800 MT/s with 13th Gen Intel processors
Dual-channel (better performance), onboard (not upgradeable)
Storage: 512 GB M.2 2230 SSD (solid-state drive)
⌨️ Keyboard & Connectivity
Keyboard: English (US) layout, backlit
Includes AI hotkey, 79 keys
Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 6 where 6E not available), AX211
2x2 antenna configuration
Bluetooth 5.3
🔋 Power & Battery
Charger: 65W USB Type-C AC adapter
TCO Gen9 compliant (environmental certification) EcoDesign
Battery: 3-cell, 54 Wh
Supports ExpressCharge & ExpressCharge Boost (faster charging)